AFBF’s Duvall to WSJ: ‘Congress Must Help Labor Down on the Farm’

A letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal submitted by AFBF President Zippy Duvall appeared in the May 28 issue. “You are correct in your editorial ‘Exporting Jobs Instead of Food’ (May 18) that ‘immigration restrictionists are detached from the reality of the American farm economy,’” wrote Duvall. Disagreeing with an assertion in the editorial, Duvall continued “the Goodlatte bill is not ‘Potemkin H-2A reform.’”

He pointed out that the guest-worker provisions in the bill enjoy wide-ranging support from a broad cross-section of agriculture. The proposal would elicit some positive changes according to Duvall, including a reduction in bureaucratic delays for farmers and lower labor recruiting costs, in addition to opening the program to dairy farmers and others not currently eligible to use it. Other benefits include a longer visa term and moving the program to the Agriculture Department. Farmers need their labor problems addressed now, Duvall wrote. “They need a solution that lands on the president’s desk.”

Subscribers can view the full letter, Congress Must Help Labor Down on the Farm, online.